


Singularity

by Frootz



Series: Singularity AU [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Full Ghost Danny Fenton, Ghost King Danny Fenton, Portal shenanigans, Possible Reveal, Protective Danny, Spatial Anomalies, The whole cast pretty much, Time Fuckery, animalistic danny, but hes still kind of a dick, feral ghosts, maybe Vlad redemption, not all the ghosts will be around, oops things might get gay my hand slipped, probably, schrodinger's ghost
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2020-10-24 10:31:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20704511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frootz/pseuds/Frootz
Summary: A rewrite of Danny Phantom, but darker, grittier, and with a lot more ghost headcanons involved. Won't be a strict follow of the show, hoping to have it's own original-ish plot. The summary isn't all that great since it's a very new story so far. Writing it as I go.Danny Fenton dies in the midst of a tear in reality, causing an unstable ghost core, faulty powers, and way too many ghosts invested in his future. Unable to come to terms with the fact that he is definitely a dead kid, he convinces his friends that his accident in the portal only gave him powers instead of killing him. Life already felt hard enough dealing with the bullies and hormones, but learning the ins and outs of ghost culture can only make things harder, especially when it comes to the ghosts he finds living in his home town.Trying to update every Sunday or Monday! May add side stories for the universe in the future under the collection, so be sure to bookmark it if you don't want to miss them!





	1. Accidents Happen

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing this story as it comes to me, and usually during classes. I want to make this as original as I can, other than the obvious fact that it's a DP fanfic, so I'm not even going to rewatch the series or anything and play by memory and use of wikia if I need to. Also, as a warning, Dani may not end up existing in this universe since the Vlad arc won't have any cloning. She might come into being some other way, if the inspiration comes to me.
> 
> Sam x Danny and Val x Danny won't happen, and I'm going to avoid as much shipping/romance as possible. Danny may even be asexual or something due to ghost stuff. Idk yet.
> 
> If you want me to make a discord or something for this AU to show off my notes, brainstorm, reveal early looks, and for you guys to offer suggestions, let me know in the comments. Enough people want it, and it'll get made. (Be warned, some of the notes for the AU may spoil future moments, even if it's not directly about the plot.)

Regardless of his family’s phantasmal occupation, Daniel James Fenton was a painfully average teenager in all aspects of life. He was the kind of kid that flew under the radar, both at home and in school. His grades were average, though he himself was somewhat intelligent, and he only really excelled in his Science classes. Even with the distressing amount of cliques one could find at Casper High, he fit in with none of them. Stuck as a mediator between his two friends, Sam and Tucker, he never really dipped too far into any of the subcultures that swarmed around the lunch tables. 

He was short, but not the shortest, and despite the amount of greasy burgers and fries he and Tucker had at the Nasty Burger, he remained thin and spindly like a bird. Dash was the only person that really bullied him, even though he pulled whoever was nearby into his ridicule most times, and that could probably be blamed on his weird parents and inability to fight back. He was kind hearted in nature, but appropriately sassy and rebellious as any teen his age would be. In fact, the only thing Danny thought to be unique about himself was his love for space. 

Seeing him around his family only further proved his averageness. Both of his parents were veritable geniuses, regardless of the less than respected profession they chose to devote themselves to. Maddie still held a modicum of credibility in the scientific community, toting an impressive line-up of degrees in biochemistry, paranormal science, and parapsychology. Jack Fenton, even with his naïve and bumbling nature, also had degrees in paranormal science, industrial design, and engineering. The two of them had spent a fair amount of time in college proving their smarts. 

Jasmine, Danny’s older sister, was the prodigal child of the Fenton family and the student that every teacher dreamed of. Her GPA was an impressive 4.0, and she was already enrolled in college credit classes online. Casper High was generous enough to allow her a spot as a volunteer counselor at the school, and she was well on her way to a career in psychology. As one can imagine, Danny often felt terribly inferior. 

He still loved his family though. 

Danny had always been closest with his mother as a child. He would follow closely in her shadow as she moved about the house, even occasionally worming his way into the lab, watching her do chores or experiments and ‘helping’ in the way only a toddler could. She would take him up to the Op Center on cool windy nights and hold his hand while she pointed out the stars and constellations in the sky. Up until he entered high school, his mother had been his closest confidant, and they had spent countless hours together. 

Jack Fenton was a man that was easy to be annoyed by, but hard to stay mad at. He was the kind of father that always had his heart in the right place, the kind of man that was his children's biggest fan. As embarrassing as he could be, he never missed a school event or one of Jazz’s award ceremonies. Jack was the one who was always there to give him a pat on the back or take him out for a sweet treat on a less than stellar day. He was the one that helped him to laugh off all the bumps and bruises that came along in his life. 

Jazz was a bit of a know-it-all, and she was always digging too deep into Danny’s personal business, but that was because she was too caring for her own good. Before she got too overloaded with her counseling and college courses, she was Danny’s personal tutor, always there to help him out with homework or studying and ruffling his messy hair when he brought home a good grade. Jazz was a bit of a mother hen when it came to her little brother, and he followed her around just as much as he did with Maddie. He would hold tightly onto her skirts and constantly mumble out ‘Jazzy’ over and over while she led him around. She was always the one to chase off his bullies, always ready to give him kisses to take away his little cuts. Jazz was a handful to deal with when they both got older, but Danny still thought she was the best sister he could ask for. 

Shortly after his graduation from middle school, Danny’s parents hit a breakthrough in their paranormal research. The entire summer, the two adults spent nearly every waking moment in the lab, leaving Danny and Jazz with what was pretty much a parent-free summer. Even with Jazz being the kind of person to nag about health and following the rules, like every other teenager would, she was convinced to let loose with her brother. 

Every night for dinner they had delivery or takeout, over-ordering so the leftovers ended up as lunch the next day. They both stayed up all night and slept till noon, running around with friends and renting way too many mature action and horror movies to count. Of course, the Fenton parents would join them for dinner most of the time, but the kids at least made sure they got two to three meals a day and at the very least 6 hours of sleep. Blankets were strewn across the chairs in the lab and empty coffee cups littered every surface. 

By the time his first day at Casper High rolled around, both he and Jazz were nearly ready to swear off pizza and chinese food for the rest of their lives, and his parents were turning into what could only be described as caffeine zombies. 

Even as the first week of classes came to an end, his parents were still slaving away in the white walled laboratory under the house, and something had to change. Sure, Danny had never really believed in ghosts, and as an extension he didn’t really believe in his parents’ research either, but he knew that their work meant everything to them. It had to have some modicum of truth in it, if they were still getting money from the government to do all this inventing, and so he had always begrudgingly accepted it. Seeing the depressed aura that fell across his parents’ shoulders that evening had sent him cautiously tiptoeing down the lab stairs long after they had collapsed in bed that night. The presence of the portal wasn’t a surprise, considering how many times Danny and Jazz had both been down here to drag their parents to either dinner or bed, but it still sent shivers down his spine. 

Long, thick cables snaked across the tile flooring, disappearing into the shadows of the corridor that served as the inside of the portal. They were messily tangled with one another, the only indicators to separate them being the occasional band of colors that split the black casing. Electrical components were left exposed in the arch of the portal, his parents likely would leave them that way until they were sure they had located the problem stopping the activation.

A large silver console sat beside the portal, serving as the hub for all the twisted wiring, and incomprehensible calculations and code flickered across it’s LED display. His mother was always triple checking both the chemical and code parts of their inventions, and he knew that it was probably as perfect as it was going to get in that respect. Green lights were lit all across the console, so he further assumed that if the problem was anywhere, it wouldn’t be here. 

Danny knew his father was a brilliant man in his own right, but he also knew that his father often made mistakes in his overexcitement. Usually, Maddie was the one to catch those errors and rectify them, but with both of them so tired that they could barely walk up the stairs, he had a hunch that they hadn’t been paying as much attention as usual. Knowing there was a good chance it was a fault in the engineering or assembly, he resolved to go inside the portal corridor and see if it was something simple enough for him to fix. 

He passed by the handmade “Fenton Jumpsuits” that hung on the wall, deciding to forgo them. Odds were, they wouldn’t protect him from much anyways, especially considering the fact that his parents had accidentally fed them so much ecto-contaminated food over the years that he didn’t think he could get much worse in that aspect anyways. Not to mention it was incredibly tacky and tight in the wrong places. Pulling his phone out, he turned on the flashlight function and hesitantly peered into the darkness. 

The passageway was relatively long, and the air inside it was strangely humid and unnaturally still. In the open lab, his footsteps would echo, and yet for some reason the only noise he could hear other than his own breathing was his suddenly racing heartbeat. All of the noise and light in the hole seemed to be swallowed up by the metal walls around him. 

As he reached the end of the hall, he could see a large, three pronged cable hanging loosely, suspended in the air only due to its entanglement with the other cables plugged into the square of circuitry. Danny shook his head with a disbelieving snort when he saw it. Of course it would be something so incredibly obvious that they had missed. Carefully, he knelt down, shuffling between the cabling at his feet as he looked for the empty socket the plug belonged in. As he pushed it into its rightful spot, a jolt of electricity shot down through his arm and into his chest, sending him sprawling backwards into the mess of wires as he let out a loud yelp of pain. His phone clattered to the floor behind him, sliding towards the open arch of the portal entrance. 

“Fuck...” he groaned as he let his head fall back to the floor with an audible thump. “The power’s still on you moron...” 

Heaving himself back into a sitting position, he shook out the static in his limbs and massaged the now aching muscles in his arm. He leaned heavily into the wall with his uninjured arm, using it to pull himself to his feet, as well as a way to navigate the once again dark corridor. The phone had landed upside down at the end of the hall, with the light shining uselessly into the floor. 

Danny was forced to stumble along the side of the wall, kicking at the cables that seemed to wrap around his legs like snakes as he inched forward. Suddenly, he lurched headfirst, barely correcting himself to slam into the wall instead of collapsing to the floor. A jutting, circular bit of the wall pressed painfully into his side, and a burst of sickly green light shot through the darkness. 

He only had a moment to panic before everything fell apart. 

The Accident, as he would come to call it, was something like a contradiction in itself. It was both momentary and everlasting, happening in both a millisecond and a thousand years all at once. It was like being crushed inwards, the gravity of the world pressing him into a ball, and yet he was being torn apart from all sides at the same time. He was overwhelmed by freezing cold and boiling heat all in a moment. Danny was torn between pain beyond his wildest imagination, and a feeling of freedom that he instinctively knew no human being would ever feel. 

When he crawled out of the swirling green of the now active portal, the lab was bathed in an eerie light, all other electronics sapped of power. His vision flickered and darkened at the edges, just as his form flickered and faded in and out of reality. Tears spilled from his eyes, and he couldn’t tell you whether they were from the excruciating pain of molecular destruction, or perhaps from that strange, unknown jubilation that thrummed throughout every inch of his being.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is very late and a bit short, but I've had a rough month or two in my life, and also I've been more obsessed with reading DP fics than writing them haha
> 
> I feel like this chapter is a bit weird and stream of consciousness-esque, idk, but yolo

Before Danny could truly regain consciousness, his body began to move. Green sparks crackled across his skin on occasion, darting off of him into the air and fizzling out like little fireworks as he twisted himself to a seated position, swaying back and forth like a puppet on strings. His eyes were glossy and pale, like the lifeless glass orbs in a porcelain doll. Something deep in his mind was awoken, hiding behind human nature and knowledge, clawing itself to the surface like an ancient being caged in the darkness.

_Mine,_ it whispered at the edge of Danny’s awareness, hypnotized by the thrumming portal before it.

_Protect._

That deep, instinctual part of the boy’s mind settled into its new place at the forefront of his faculties, and as Danny returned to his senses he felt as if there was a comforting presence draped across his shoulders like the echo of an embrace.

He looked into the center of the machine that ended his life and felt a mixture of awe and horror, his gaze unblinking as he staggered to his feet, stepping forward with trepidation until he could practically feel its power reaching into him like tendrils.

It was there, his silhouette bracketed by that nauseous green light, that his parents found him hours later. He himself felt like only seconds had passed looking into that tear between dimensions, but when his parents’ questions came forth, something in his mind told him;_ Lie. Hide. Protect._

He left as much truth as he could in his story, leaving in the unplugged wire but telling them that when he tried turning it on again it gave him a nasty shock. Maddie cautiously carded her fingers through her son’s hair, trying to ignore the feeling of dread that niggled its way into her brain as she stared at a section of his bangs that had turned a stark, shock white all the way from root to tip. If it hadn’t been the result of a lab accident that could have gone much worse, she would have described it as adorable, as she usually described her son, and it almost seemed like a cute way to seem like a little rebellious teen.

As he hid the truth of his accident in the lab from his parents, spending the next few hours sitting on the couch receiving both tearful proclamations of worry and firm scoldings, his body remained tense, drawn taut like a steel wire, ready to snap. His fight or flight mode was running constantly, and even as his body remained relaxed his mind was on complete lockdown, filled to the brim with fervid instinct.

_Don’t let them know,_ the voice that both was and was not him would say, _They are Hunters. They will kill you a second time. Hide. Protect. Survive. Survive. SURVIVE._

A manic mantra, echoing throughout his entire being, pumping through his body like flowing blood, keeping him on high alert until deep into the night after he had convinced his parents to forgo examination and let him go to sleep. Finally, his very being seemed to exhale, the steel trap that was his mind finally loosening, his whole body going limp with exhaustion as he slumped into the mattress of his bed. And then, through it.

Panic shot through his heart momentarily, followed by an alien feeling of calm flowed over him. Gently, he pulled himself upwards and out of the bed, tugging his limbs back into reality like dragging them through molasses. Now that he was no longer fighting to keep himself hidden, his feeling of safety had allowed these strange new powers to flow forth.

A single thought came to his mind as he waved his hands through his bed frame like it didn’t exist, and a deep feeling of acceptance and understanding fell over him like a comforting blanket as he whispered to himself, alone in his bedroom.

“I’m dead.”

The presence wormed its way forth like a hand setting down on his shoulder. _Yes. Dead, but not._

Danny settled into his desk chair, rolling it over in front of his window so that he could gaze up at the starry night sky. It took focus at first, to keep from slipping through the chair, but throughout the entire night he never fell through and he never closed his eyes.

His alarm startled him in the morning, and he struggled to piece together his memory as he found that the moon he had been gazing up at had suddenly turned into the morning sun without a second in between. He fumbled with the alarm clock as he tried to pull himself together, feeling as if he was controlling his own body from the outside, feeling like he was his own puppet, lagging behind in the commands he gave it. Eventually, the dissociation had faded, leaving him disconcerted but at the very least in control of his faculties once more.

Hopefully, he could keep himself held together in front of his parents at least, because even the smallest examination that they might perform on him if he acted strangely would show some very unhealthy results.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference I wanted his little hair streak to look kinda like this bc I thought it was cute.  
https://grumpypies.tumblr.com/post/144184235871/i-just-love-drawing-this-ghost-boy
> 
> Thank you all for the comments, I'm sorry I update so infrequently, but I've recently changed majors (and medications) and life has been very busy. (I'm also very incredibly prone to writer's block and I enjoy reading fics more than making them even with all of my endless headcanons and aus ;p )
> 
> I've tried to add more dialogue as some people recommended, I've never thought myself to be very good at it, but I hope it's alright!  
Sorry if its a little short I was suddenly in a writing mood at 5am and I gotta sleep sometime lmao
> 
> I tend to focus a lot on how Danny is feeling I guess? I want to properly portray the whole spacey out of body feelings he gets in this AU. Also a bit of space obsession sprinkled in here and there is very good. When I eventually write the next chapter, it will finally have Sam and Tucker, and maybe even a ghost or two

Danny’s brow furrowed in annoyance as he stared at the streaks of white hair that fell quite obviously against his pitch black bangs. The spot itself was about as wide as a soda can, and luckily it was off to the left side of his face, he didn’t know what he would do if he had some weird skunk link going on. The part of his scalp it was connected to was oddly numb, and he could only feel it brush against his head when he pushed it around in attempt to hide it. He huffed in annoyance as he finished brushing his hair as usual. Even if he had cut the chunk off, it would leave his bangs looking messy and choppy. Dash would probably call him an old man and say he was turning into his dad, but at least he wouldn’t claim he was balding prematurely or something.

Danny was still feeling pretty out of it, and even though he could try to play sick and stay home, his parents would just be worried about the whole electric shock incident and try to take him to the hospital, or -god forbid- try checking him out themselves. Instead, he just slipped on the comfiest old sweatshirt he had, one that had been turned into an at-home-only shirt once he decided the little cartoon ufo pattern was too childish to wear in public anymore, but considering what he went through he couldn’t give a damn for today. It had always been big on him, so he let the sleeves cover his finger tips so he could hide the way he plucked nervously at the fabric.

Cautiously, he slunk down the stairs with his bag, eyeing his sister at the table as he moved to put his shoes on. Hopefully nobody had mentioned the accident to her, or he’d be dealing with her constant hovering for the rest of the week. Not to mention the fights about how unsafe the house is again with his parents.

Luckily she didn’t seem to know anything, and kept her nose buried in some complicated looking psychology textbook- only she could enjoy reading something so complicated and un-fun.

As Danny sat down at the table, Maddie came into the room from the kitchen, pressing a kiss to the top of his head as she sat down a plate of eggs and bacon for him.

“Do you want something to drink, sweetie?” she asked as she moved to reenter the kitchen, spatula in hand.

Danny shuffled a little nervously, still wary that she might find some kind of miniscule clue that he wasn’t quite as alright as he claimed to be. “Uh… yeah, sure. Orange juice is fine, thanks mom.”

Meanwhile, he stared down at his breakfast with a grimace. He enjoyed the smell of the fresh cooked food, but he didn’t have any urge to actually eat it. He didn’t want his mom to think anything was wrong though, so he nibbled at his bacon when she came back with his glass. It felt almost like he could feel each bite drop into his stomach, like dropping pebbles into a hollow bowl. It was weird, and more than a little disconcerting, but it wasn’t like it made him feel sick or anything. Regardless of how uncomfortable and just plain off it made him feel, he managed to force down a good third of the plate.

As his father sleepily shuffled in and sat at the table, he pushed the rest of his food over to him. “Here dad, I’m not super hungry this morning so you can have the rest.”

Jack gave him a bright grin, perking up a little, and ruffled his hair lightly as Danny stood to leave for school. “Thanks, Dann-o! Nothing better than a big greasy breakfast to start the day!”

“Jack,” his mother admonished as she brought him a plate practically overflowing with food, “It’s not that greasy…” Turning towards Danny, she gave him a worried glance and called out to him before he could scamper out the door. “Danny, honey, you barely touched your food… are you sure you’re feeling alright? Maybe we should have you checked out after all.”

_No!_ The shadow in his mind called out suddenly, shocking Danny into remembering it’s presence. Ice shot down his spine as he suppressed a shudder. He shook his head quickly as he made his escape, calling back to his mother as he let the door fall shut. “I’m just not that hungry today, it’s no big deal. I’ll eat a big lunch, I promise I’m fine.”

Maddie hummed, but decided that if he had enough energy to be rushing off then he must be fine. For the moment at least.

Danny quickly walked down the street, wringing his hands nervously along the straps of his backpack. He felt like a cat that been startled, all coiled up and with their fur standing on end. It was like an endless buzzing of anxious energy beneath his skin, boiling up to the surface and seeping back down into his bones. That shadowy presence within him bristled up against him carefully, and the static noise in his head settled to a gentle hum. It felt his whole body was thumping like a slow heartbeat.

When he blinked, he could see stars. Not like when you stand up too fast or spend too long looking at a computer screen, but real honest to god stars. He could see constellations, planets, everything. Before he knew it, his eyes slipped closed as he became entranced by the sight, lulled into a state of what felt to him like nirvana.

Suddenly, the feel of cold metal met his hand and jolted him out of his reverie.

He was standing at his locker, about to spin his combination in like every morning, and yet he couldn’t remember a damn second of the walk to get there. Roughly tugging the door open, he leaned his forehead against the cool metal door and tried to collect himself before he was worked into a panic.

The presence had disappeared again, and he couldn’t help but feel abandoned as the halls filled with students.

The proximity of those warm, living bodies only made him feel that much colder.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some ghosty stuff, some schooly stuff. Sam and Tuck are here but not really the focus.

Shockingly, Danny realized he had ended up at school earlier than usual. ‘At least I got here before Sam and Tuck did, they definitely would have realized something was wrong if he had walked right past them at the door.’

He gathered up his things for first period and decided to go wait for the two of them at Tuck’s locker where he could catch the both of them on the way in. It wasn’t a long wait before the two of them approached with their backpacks slung over their shoulders. Tucker gave him a friendly punch to the shoulder as he greeted him.

“Hey man, not usually here before we are. What’s the hustle? And what’s with the new highlight?”

“Eh, you know,” Danny began as Tucker shoved his bag into the locker and pulled out his books, “Mom and Dad had a big breakthrough with their newest invention last night so they’ve been really energetic this morning. I kinda just wanted to get away from all the ghost stuff this morning and ended up leaving early. That little streak is from some invention malfunction, no big deal, just didn’t have the time to get rid of it last night.”

Tucker shot him a sympathetic glance as the two of them turned to follow Sam to her locker. “You know,” Sam remarked with a teasing tone, “When are you ever gonna take us down into the lab to see all that stuff anyways?”

Danny grimaced, tightening his fingers around his books until they whitened slightly. Luckily he was slightly behind the other two, so they didn’t catch the pained look that shot across his face. “I- well…. This latest project it- it was really dangerous guys… I got too close to it and got a pretty nasty shock from it.” Sam turned to him with a raised eyebrow, obviously not believing it was all that dangerous. “Seriously? If you’re at school it must not have-“

“No.” He cut her off brusquely, his gaze turning steely. Danny ducked his head to avoid her surprised stare before he continued, “It scared the hell out of me. It wasn’t just a little shock, okay? I was lucky I didn’t…. didn’t die.” Biting his lip, he shut his eyes tightly for a moment before he looked the two of them in the eyes again. “I don’t want you guys down there. Before it was because it was embarrassing but now… it’s just too dangerous. I’m not supposed to have friends in the lab anyways.”

He hoped that they couldn’t see the way his arms shook before he adjusted his hold on his books, wrapping his arms around them and tucking them against his chest. Sam and Tucker shared a worried look between the two of them, Tucker reaching out to squeeze his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it man, we won’t push about it anymore.”

“Yeah,” Sam nodded in agreement, “Let’s just forget about it and head to class, alright?”

A flavor almost like caramel seemed to suddenly burst across his tongue, and he unconsciously licked across the back of his teeth as he savored it. It managed to lift his mood almost instantly, and he smiled warmly as he bumped shoulders with his two best friends. “It’s all good guys, it was just a little scary, but it’s fine now.”

His mood stayed strangely high for the rest of the morning, and he managed to both avoid Dash and his gang as well as pay more attention in class than usual. The notes he took seemed to be more organized and legible, and it only seemed to further his mood. Crackles of all sorts of different flavors popped across his tongue throughout the day, and he felt like he’d chugged a whole bottle of espresso.

In the back of his mind, he felt a sense of foreboding, though this sudden energy and mood boost blocked most of it and kept him from dwelling on the feeling. It felt like eyes, watching him constantly. Like he wasn’t meant to be here. Like the school belonged to someone else, someone stronger than him. He was a trespasser.

But with his friends at his side, sharing in his infectious mood as they joked and laughed in the passing periods, he pushed it out of his mind.

Things continued on for the majority of the day in a similar way, up until his last class of the day.

Danny was walking alone to his last class, one he didn’t share with Sam and Tucker, when he passed by one of the janitor’s closets that kids liked to make out in. Honestly, he wouldn’t have heard the quiet sobbing inside of it if not for his newly sharpened senses, but he did and he skid to a stop as he stared at the door. After a moment of listening to the choked back crying and debating whether or not to intervene, he steeled himself to knock at the door.

“Hey um… is- is everything alright in there?”

The crying stopped suddenly as the girl realized someone could hear her, and all he could pick up was unsteady breathing as she held herself back. He shuffled his feet awkwardly before he leaned his forehead against the door frame. “I know you’re in there…. I just, y’know, I couldn’t just walk away while you’re in here crying…..” He huffed a sigh at the continued silence, internally accepting the fact that he wasn’t going to make it to class in time, and sat down beside the door just as the bell rang.

“If- if you want someone to talk to about it, you can talk to me.” Danny knew he probably wasn’t the person to talk to about emotions or problems, he couldn’t offer good advice or make the hurt go away, but he could at least be a wall to rant at if he needed to. He leaned his back against the door, setting his books down on the floor beside him as he got comfortable to wait.

All of a sudden the door shot open, causing him to fall back and slam his head into the floor with a grunt of pain. The girl inside stuck her head into the hall, checking for onlookers before she dragged him inside with a hiss. “Hurry up and get in here, I don’t need teachers coming to see what some freshman is doing sitting in the hallway.” She angrily rubbed her palms against her eyes, smearing mascara stained tear tracks as she did.

The light in the closet was dim, but it was still enough to see. The girl was curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees, her dirty blonde hair hanging messy and loose in it’s ponytail. He could tell that she was a few years older than him, probably a senior.

She gazed at him wearily, shifting back and forth nervously as she gripped her knees. “Listen, ok. I’m just- I’m just gonna talk my shit out and you’re gonna listen. No hugging or trying to hold my hand or whatever. This isn’t an invitation to get all touchy feel-y with me. I’m just… I’m just using a resource that happened to be here. I don’t want to know your name or anything. We’re gonna stay strangers after this because I don’t wanna think about this ever again.”

Danny waved his hands back and forth placatingly, a nervous grin breaking out across his face as he crossed his legs and settled in for a long, one-sided conversation. “Very impersonal, got it. I’m just a blank slate for you to dump your stuff on, anything that makes you feel better.”

He felt bad about it, but he ended up zoning out on her pretty fast, too focused on the sudden, overwhelming flavor of warm vanilla that seemed to flood into his mouth. His mouth filled with saliva, and he found himself swallowing over and over to keep himself from drooling in front of the girl. Unconsciously, his core began to reach out to her, bringing even more potent bursts of the flavor. Danny began to actively push his core towards her, yearning for more of that incredible flavor. It tasted like freshly baked sugar cookies, hot out of the oven but just warm enough to eat.

A pat to his leg suddenly shook him out of his reverie, and he saw the girl swaying gently back and forth almost drunkenly in front of him. Her eyes almost seemed empty and dead, and when she spoke, her tone was completely flat and apathetic. “You know, I don’t really feel any better, talking to you. I guess I just don’t feel anything at all. That’s better than hurting though, so thanks I guess.”

A sharp pang of guilt raced down his spine like an electric shock. He knew that he had done something to her, drained her of her energy and left her looking like a husk. Shakily, he stood up and watched as she struggled to pull herself to her feet and leave the closet. The door closed shut behind her, and he stood alone in the dim light, quivering as he stared down at his hands that suddenly seemed to belong to someone else. Something inhuman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm I wonder who that presence could be. Originally I was going to reveal it in this chapter but things got away from me and it changed slightly. I'm going to try to keep a schedule of updating every Sunday for as long as I can. I have the outline for around 9 or so chapters right now, so it shouldn't be too hard to keep it up for a while.
> 
> Thanks everyone who reviewed, every time I get one it gives me that much more motivation to keep up my writing!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Jazz time, sorry for the delay and short chapter, I've been sick recently and studying for an exam

Jazz Fenton was a girl determined to go above and beyond the rest of her peers. Every day she would volunteer her study hall hours to assist the counselor of the school, as well as use it as an opportunity to learn more about their methods, and her afterschool hours were devoted to student council duties and other miscellaneous clubs that focused on charity work and helping the community. She knew that if she wanted to catch Harvard’s eye she would need to have as attractive an application as possible, and with that in mind no amount of her lost free time was ever mourned.

And so, as per usual, she didn’t make it back home until about 6 o’clock that evening after school. Her mother, distracted with the lab as she was more often than not these days, wasn’t in the kitchen starting on dinner, so Jazz let out a soft sigh and dug through the ectoplasmic samples in the freezer until she found a noncontaminated frozen pizza to throw in the oven for Danny and herself. After setting her timer on her phone, she trudged up to her room with her bag hanging loosely from her shoulder.

She let the heavy bag of advanced class material fall to the ground with a thump, and she herself flopped exhaustedly into her desk chair with the same lack of care. Stretching her legs out, she found her legs stopped by a soft, warm lump of blankets under the table. Suddenly, the lump shifted and moved towards her, and she toppled backwards in her chair with a screech, tumbling off onto the pink fur rug behind her.

The blanket slipped off of Danny’s head, revealing his piercing blue eyes, and Jazz glared at him as she held a hand over her heart, trying to calm her panicked breathing.

“Jesus, Danny!” She hissed at him, “What the heck are you doing under there!?”

He looked down at the floor silently, thinking about his reply before he looked back up at her sheepishly.

“I was lonely,” he murmured softly, “Missed you. Didn’t feel good today.”

Jasmine’s glare softened into something caring, and she reached out her arms and beckoned to him. “Alright, get over here.”

Danny and his cocoon of blankets shuffled across the carpet towards her and he slumped bonelessly against her, tucking his face into her shoulder. Jazz gently ran her hand through his charcoal black hair, occasionally playing with the new streak of white from his accident. “Now what’s got you so worked up today, little brother?” She pushed the blankets off of him to get a better look, checking for any signs of bullying or distress. “Why were you hiding under the desk- and is that my Bearbert?”

He blushed and pushed the plush scientist bear into her hands, scratching at the back of his neck nervously. “He smelled like you… And the desk felt, I don’t know, safe I guess…? It would be weirder if I was sleeping in my sister’s bed, wouldn’t it?”

She shook her head with a laugh, gently tossing Bearbert over onto her bed. “I was worried you weren’t weird enough for this family and then I catch you doing stuff like this. At least you aren’t ghost obsessed, but if you scare me by hiding in my room ever again I’ll convince Dad you want to learn the family trade.”

Danny grimaced, both at the fact that he was now something his parents would want to study and at remembering the last time his Dad tried to get him into ghost hunting. He did not feel like spending another eight hours trapped in the lab while he showed off all their weapons, especially not after his accident.

“Sorry Jazz I just- Today was just an off day, nothing really happened… I just feel burnt out I guess…”

Humming in thought, she ruffled his hair before picking herself up off the floor. Danny took her offered hand as he too stood up, and the two of them wandered down into the kitchen with Jasmine in the lead.

“Maybe you should think about seeing the school counselor?” She offered as she cracked open the oven to check on the pizza. “I know you don’t like talking to me about your problems, but an outside perspective might help you out, even if she just listens to your problems.”

Danny huffed in irritation, he couldn’t exactly tell anyone about his problems, let alone someone who might tell his parents, or worse, the government. “I don’t really have anything to talk about Jazz, it was just a bad day, okay?”

“Alright, little brother,” she conceded, “Whatever you want.”

He was surprised that she wasn’t going to push the matter, especially given her past behavior in trying to use him as a psychology guinea pig, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Odds were, she was just giving him space because of his accident the other night, or maybe she felt it was a more serious matter since she found him hiding under her desk.

Danny hadn’t even consciously chosen to do that anyways, it was just something that happened while he was in a daze again. He remembered that he felt too alone when he came home, but he didn’t want to be stressed out dealing with his parents. Jazz had been the next best option, and he wanted to run off to her to get the love and care she would provide in place on their parents. It wasn’t that they were bad people, but they were often inattentive due to their obsession with ghosts and working in the lab, so Jazz had chosen to step up and take up a role that was more than just a big sister. They weren’t really allowed in the lab anyways, so Jazz had been kissing booboo’s and helping with homework for a long time.

That little shadow in his head had wanted to find somewhere safe to recuperate from the stress, so he had bundled up in the softest blanket he could find, snagged his sister’s teddy bear, and crawled himself into the tight, secure, hidey hole under her desk and curled into a tiny ball to wait for her to come home. Surprisingly, he managed to fall asleep during that time even though he wasn’t sure he even needed to sleep still.

Later that night, he found himself feeling too exposed, too out in the open as he laid on his bed to try to sleep again. It irked him a little, but he found that wriggling into the space under his bed made him feel almost as comfortable as laying on the couch. Luckily, his bed was rather high off the floor, so he had enough room to sneak a blanket and pillow down with him, and he slept better than he ever had when he was alive.


End file.
